Dark Enough to See the Stars

The subterranean chamber opened up to a large cave. In the middle, a stalagmite and a stalactite had grown together, creating a sort of column around the crystal. The crystal wasn't merely dark or dim, however. Like the chip Ardyn had shown her earlier, it actually seemed to absorb light, such that it looked like an abyss had somehow learned to float.

Lunafreya moved toward it. His description had been a bit sinister, but she felt no malign influence from it. Like the chip, it felt comforting...like home. She reached out to touch it.

The warm blackness enveloped her at once. She felt as though she were floating in an endless sea. At first, she struggled to keep her balance, but realized it was futile; there was nothing to balance on. She relaxed, and allowed herself to drift.

Presently, a dim light appeared out of the darkness. It began as a pinprick, then grew larger and brighter, as if it were coming closer from far away. Lunafreya recognized the feeling before she saw the face.

"Mother!" she exclaimed happily. In this place, her joy produced sparks like little fireworks around her body.

"Lunafreya, my darling," said Sylva, embracing her. "Goodness. Your light always burned so bright, but now it's dazzling."

"And yet, I feel as if I'm on the edge of a precipice, about to fall at any moment," said Lunafreya.

"You've turned from the path the Gods laid out for you and thrown in with their adversary. What you're feeling is risk - I expect it's not terribly familiar to you. Your father and I did our best to prepare you for what was to come. Perhaps we did too much. We did not intend to rob you of your choices."

"Choices…?" Lunafreya was confused. She had honestly never considered that she had any choices. What options did one have when one felt the weight of destiny pressing down?

Sylva looked sorrowful. "We thought...we thought it would be easier for you if you only had one path to walk. We did not consider that you would be strong enough to make your own way."

One of the lights started to grow and take shape. She had flowing black hair, long robes, and a skeptical demeanor. Lunafreya recognized her from historical portraits: Aurelia Nox Fleuret, the first Oracle. The details were not exact, but the portraits had perfectly captured her stern and regal air.

"There is no other way," said the imposing woman. "It's understandable that you would see the healer he once was and pity him, but following him will only lead you to darkness as well."

"No, no," said Lunafreya. "Don't you see? A terrible injustice was done. Until it is put to rights, we will all suffer from it."

Had Lunafreya been watching, she would have noticed a number of faint lights appear, as if they had overheard something interesting and were leaning in to hear.

"How do you intend to defeat it, though?" challenged Aurelia. "Only the Chosen can eliminate the Starscourge."

"Noctis remains the True King, but Ardyn Lucis Caelum was the Chosen once. He was imbued with all the power that entails, and he still has it."

There was a murmur around her, and Lunafreya realized she was surrounded by little starlights.

"The Usurper will not allow this, and the Accursed lacks the power to oppose him."

"Then it is as I thought - they are separate entities yet," said Lunafreya triumphantly. The lights murmured again. "If that's so, then the monster can be removed from the man before they cause any more damage together."

"An intriguing theory," said Aurelia. "Although in two millennia, none of us have been able to do so. What makes you think you can?"

Lunafreya considered her words carefully. Then she thought, Devil with it. This wasn't the time for diplomacy. This was the time to lead. She squared her shoulders and faced Aurelia with resolve. "The Astrals see things only in terms of power: who is stronger, who can overcome, the black king versus the white king. This is a fundamental error. Ardyn doesn't lack the strength to expel the daemons. He lacks the conviction."

Looking around her at all of her assembled foremothers, Sylva said, "The line of Oracles has always hewed to our path like pawns on a chessboard, marching from birth till death, never once taking our eyes off the distant horizon. Have any of you - in your heart of hearts - ever believed that the Accursed could be saved? Or even that he should?"

The murmuring was sounding a bit indignant now. Lunafreya looked all around her to see dozens of lights. One-hundred and thirteen of them, if she wasn't mistaken. Some were sparkling, some were glowing an ominous red.

Aurelia frowned. "Of course not. He has a part to play, as do we all. Without the Accursed to serve as a whetstone, the Chosen King cannot ascend to the throne of light."

"If that's so, then Ardyn's choices were never fully his own," said Lunafreya softly.

"He may choose darkness of his own accord," said Aurelia.

"Then so be it, but at least it will have been his own decision," said Lunafreya. She lifted her eyes and addressed all the Oracles. "I have full faith that Noctis will ascend in time. Part of his strength comes from opposition, but it can also spring from connection - his ties to this world and its people - and he will be greater for it."

Aurelia abruptly winked back into a pinlight. Then all the lights started to buzz.

#

When Lunafreya emerged from the darkness of the crystal, she was shining like a star. Ardyn looked her over and realized she was wearing a ring she hadn't been wearing before. A shadow counterpart to the Ring of the Lucii, perhaps? In all his time, he had not an inkling that such a thing existed. Indeed, maybe it never had. Maybe she willed it into being all on her own, or with the help of her foremothers.

"Ravus..." said Lunafreya. "I don't know what will happen next. You should leave this place, get as far away as you can -"

"Don't be fatuous. If I intended to leave you now, I wouldn't have come all the way here." His face was a mixture of affection and frustration. Relieved and worried at the same time, Lunafreya stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Aww," said Ardyn, grinning. He saw two possible outcomes. Most likely, Lunafreya would take the power she received from the Oracles and attempt to either expel or outright destroy Uzuloth. If so, he doubted she would succeed. The daemon was as old as Eos itself, maybe older, and far stronger than any child of man. He would kill Ravus and Lunafreya, the line of the Oracles would end, and one part of Ardyn's plan would fall into place.

There was, however, another possibility.

Lunafreya took both of his hands and touched her forehead to his, focusing her concentration. Her consciousness drifted into Ardyn's - something she knew could only happen because both the man and the daemon were allowing it. She felt sure that Ardyn would join her when the time came, but the Usurper was another story. He would not go without a fight. Lunafreya was not even vaguely aware of what was happening outside. She trusted Ravus to guard her body, because she needed to concentrate on her soul.

Ardyn's voice - or what sounded like it - echoed through the darkness. "I thought you might like to take a little tour of my grand design, Princess. It's only fair that you know what you're fighting for, after all."

The blackness dissipated into a laboratory. Lunafreya recognized Verstael Besithia standing with Ardyn at a laboratory table. Besithia held up a glass cylinder and Ardyn filled it with some kind of pulsating purple-black miasma. Images flashed by of soldiers wracked with pain, infected with the black mist. Horribly, it then shifted to infants, helpless babes overtaken by daemons before they could utter their first words.

"The Magitek Infantry," said Ardyn. "We discovered that daemons could not possess a person with a fully-formed ego. Infants were a much better subject." He smiled wickedly. "That's why our 'mechanical' soldiers scream when they die, in case you were wondering."

The scene shifted to a rocky cliffside. Although she couldn't feel anything, Lunafreya could tell it was hot by the way the vision blurred. An enormous body was lying still on the ground, with cloven hooves, horns, and an exquisitely beautiful face.

"Ifrit," whispered Lunafreya.

Ardyn walked over to the body of Ifrit, carelessly picking the head up by the hair. He held up a hand swirling with miasma, gathered the daemonic power, and plunged his fist right into the Astral's mouth. Then the heat was chased away by a dark and snowy night. Lunafreya watched as the Imperial Army destroyed Shiva, her colossal body finally collapsing into the Ghorovas Rift.

"I wanted to show you those two together," said Ardyn. "You probably already know this, but they were lovers. Fire and ice in perfect harmony. Speaking of which…."

Next was a stone platform swept by torrential rains and winds. Lunafreya saw herself, standing opposite Ardyn. He was holding a dagger; a simple but effective weapon. He plunged it between her ribs almost carelessly and gave it a twist, smiling as she choked on her own blood.

Lunafreya covered her eyes, unable to bear any more.

"Oh dear, is this a lot take in? I selected these from a very long list. But fear not; we'll skip to the end. I've saved the best for last."

She gave a little yelp as he grabbed her hands and pulled them off her face, forcing her to look.

The last was the cruelest cut: in the ruins of Insomnia, Ardyn and Noctis faced off. Ardyn fought ferociously, using Noctis's own Royal Arms against him. Lunafreya felt sick. Of course she and Noctis were still alive, but knowing that this was what lurked inside Ardyn made her feel furious, helpless, and sad all at once. A desire to hurt the Accursed One, even destroy him, welled up inside her.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" said Ardyn, still with that infuriating smile plastered on his face. "Those are some of my most cherished memories. I do hope you enjoyed them."

The Trident of the Oracle appeared in her hand. She had never been able to conjure a weapon before, but here it was. In fact, she had never fought before, but the urge to jam this spear right into the daemon's black heart was overwhelming, consuming her every thought -

The daemon.

Lunafreya took a deep breath. She threw the Trident aside.

Ardyn - or rather, the thing that was wearing his face - sneered. "Either destroy the monster, or let everyone you love be destroyed by it. There is no other choice."

"Ardyn Lucis Caelum," Lunafreya said softly. "When you were weak, a daemon gave you strength. When you feared death, they brought you life. When you were alone, they stood beside you."

She placed one hand on his face and again concentrated. The creature writhed under her touch; she held him still with her other hand.

"But they have taken from you as well. Where you had love, they replaced it with hate. When you prayed for peace, they stirred up war. When you longed for companionship, they isolated you."

She could now feel very clearly the difference between the man and the monster, one pulling away from her and one leaning towards. He was shaking all over, barely able to stand. Lunafreya wrapped both her arms around him, supporting him.

"I can't fight anymore," he said miserably. "I'm so tired. I just want to rest."

"Don't fight. Just let them go. They will depart if only you stop holding them here."

If she could have seen his expression, she would have seen surprise. He had always considered his deal with the daemons to be permanent - they would never let him go, or so he thought. In truth, it was just the opposite. He wouldn't let them go. They were all he had.

"I'm afraid," he whispered in her ear.

"I know. That's how I can tell you're still human," she said gently.

#

Ravus watched as Lunafreya began working her magic on the chancellor. Almost immediately, acrid black smoke began to flow from his skin and coalesce into daemons. Some of the smoke dissipated; Ravus guessed that Lunafreya's power was outright destroying the weaker ones, but the stronger ones were escaping. He raised his sword.

Out of nowhere, Aranea Highwind stood beside him, polearm at the ready. They were surrounded by daemons. Big ones, small ones, red ones, blue ones. A seemingly endless cavalcade of malice had poured out of the chancellor, to the point that Aranea had to wonder if any part of him was real. Maybe the hat.

"You know," she commented, "that guy gave me the heebie-jeebies from the minute I met him. Didn't really see this coming, though."

"Highwind? What are you doing here?" said Ravus.

"Extraction. Thought I'd give you a hand with these things first, though."

They fought for what felt like hours, demolishing wave after wave of daemons. Gradually, a rumbling grew beneath their feet, eventually shaking the entire cavern. The daemons stopped fighting, which was...unusual, to say the least.

Suddenly, a flood of hornets flew out of Izunia's mouth and swarmed around the roof of the cavern. The daemons watched the swarm attentively. It zoomed around the dark crystal, then into it. The assembled daemon horde whooped loudly and followed the hornets inside.

"Oh -" said Ravus.

"Shit!" said Aranea.